Updates, advisories and surprises

(4:15 PM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - Alcoa Inc.
AA, +0.25%
reported a surprise third-quarter profit Wednesday afternoon, ending three straight quarters of losses. Net income for the aluminum giant was $77 million, 8 cents a share. In the year-ago period, Alcoa earned $268 million, or 33 cents a share. Sales fell 33% to $4.62 billion from last year's quarter. The results topped Wall Street's expectations. Analysts had forecast Alcoa to lose 10 cents a share on revenue of $4.5 billion. Ahead of the report, Alcoa shares closed up 2.2% at $14.20. The stock has gained 26% in value so far this year, better than the 11% gain for the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Family Dollar earnings per share up 13.2%

(7:18 AM ET) NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Family Dollar Stores Inc.
FDO, -5.78%
said Wednesday that fourth-quarter earnings were $60 million, or 43 cents a share, compared to $53 million, or 38 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Sales were $1.81 billion, compared to $1.77 billion a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet Research estimated earnings per share of 41 cents and sales of $1.81 billion. For fiscal 2010, the company expects net sales will increase 5% to 7% and same-store sales to grow 3% to 5%.

Verisk raises $1.9 billion, richest U.S IPO of '09

(7:08 AM ET) NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Verisk Analytics Inc.
VRSK, -0.10%
on Wednesday said it priced 85.25 million shares at $22 a share for proceeds of $1.9 billion in the richest U.S.-based initial public offering so far in 2009. The Jersey City, N.J. provider of actuarial data to the insurance industry priced above its $19-$21 estimated price range in a sign of strong interest from Wall Street. BofA Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley acted as joint book-running managers for the offering.

Wolverine lifts outlook as profit slips 14%

(6:45 AM ET) LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Shoe maker Wolverine World Wide Inc.
WWW, -0.80%
said Wednesday that its third-quarter net profit fell 14% as it also raised its earnings forecast for the year. The company said it earned $26.8 million, or 54 cents a share, in the quarter, compared to $31.2 million, or 62 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue fell 10.1% to $286.8 million, and was down 6.9% excluding a negative impact from exchange rate fluctuations. Excluding restructuring charges of $5.1 million, earnings per share would have been 62 cents as lower discretionary operating costs and a new tax strategy helped offset the lower sales. Analysts polled by FactSet had been expecting earnings of 56 cents a share on sales of $292.2 million. The company said it now expects adjusted earnings for 2009 of $1.65 to $1.75 a share, up from its previous guidance of $1.55 to $1.73 a share.

Costco 4th-quarter net off 6%

(3:26 AM ET) TEL AVIV (MarketWatch) -- Costco Wholesale Corp.,
COST, +0.43%
the Issaquah, Wash., warehouse retailer, reported fiscal-fourth-quarter net income fell 6% as net sales fell 3.3%, total revenue fell 3.1%, and same-store sales fell 5%. For the quarter ended August 30, net income was $374 million, or 85 cents a share, compared with $398 million, or 90 cents, in the year-earlier quarter. The latest quarter reflected a LIFO-related credit of 2 cents a share, while the year-earlier period reflected charges totaling 7 cents a share. A survey of analysts by FactSet Research produced a consensus estimate for the quarter of 77 cents a share. The quarter's comparable sales reflected declines of 6% in the U.S. and 3% internationally, Costco reported on Wednesday. For September, same-store sales rose 1%, including a decline of 1% in the U.S. and a rise of 6% overseas. The results were hurt because sales in the U.S. continue "soft" while employee-benefit costs -- mainly higher health-care eligibility and use -- climbed, Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti said in a statement. Weaker foreign currencies hurt international profit, he said.

Michael Page gross profit down 42%

(2:45 AM ET) LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. recruitment firm Michael Page International(UK:MPI)said in a trading update Wednesday that its third-quarter gross profit fell around 42% to 82.2 million pounds ($130.9 million) and that operating profit from trading activities in the quarter was around 5 million pounds. "We had anticipated that the seasonally quieter third quarter would be challenging, particularly in Continental Europe, which was generally later into the downturn," said CEO Steve Ingham. "However, as the third quarter progressed, market conditions in an increasing number of the countries in which we operate began to show signs of stabilisation," he added. The firm also warned that it had received a letter from U.K. tax authorities saying that they believe recent tax refund and interest payments of 37.4 million pounds "in whole or part should not have been paid." The company said it will provide more details when it receives them.

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